Fulham returned to winning ways on a bitterly cold Saturday afternoon with a 1-0 victory over relegation threatened Birmingham City.

A first-half Sheyi Ojo strike was enough to separate the two sides and see the Whites secure a valuable three points.

Slaviša Jokanović made two changes from the side that fell to defeat against Brentford in the latest West London derby, welcoming back Tim Ream into the side to partner Tomáš Kalas in the heart of the Whites defence. The match also saw Marcus Bettinelli return to the starting XI in the league for the first time since the play-off heartache against Reading last season.

A tentative start to the match from both sides resulted in a fairly uneventful opening ten minutes. The most positive play coming from the flanks of the Fulham front three, with Neeskens Kebano and Ojo both beating their men on the wings to no avail as their crosses were hooked clear on both occasions.

Birmingham appeared perfectly contented to sit back and soak up pressure, however, their clear lack of ambition came back to haunt them in the 14^th minute as the Whites broke the deadlock.

After a free kick deep in the Fulham half Ryan Sessegnon slowly meandered forward and rather than picking out Kebano he first fed Tom Cairney with a delightful low pass after he had found some space on the edge of the box. In turn the flamboyant midfielder finding his form once again slipped in Kebano down the left with a deft first-time flick. The Congolese attacker in turn picked his spot and riffled a ball across the face of goal. All it needed was a touch to divert it into the net and Ojo duly obliged to hand Fulham the lead.

It was almost a quick-fire double as minutes later Kevin McDonald surged towards the opposition box after an errand clearance. The powerful midfielder slipped an inch perfect ball into the path of Sessegnon who had ghosted past his defender, but didn’t connect cleanly and the chance was gone.

As the temperature plummeted with every passing minute it was Fulham who remained in control in the encounter as carved out a positive opening in the 37^th minute. Ojo was unchallenged on the edge of the opposition area as an unmarked McDonald sprinted past him into the Birmingham box. However, his low left-footed cross was pounced on by David Stockdale and the chance was gone.

With the clock ticking down in the first half Fulham were denied by a solid reaction save by Stockdale after Kebano lashed a left-footed strike on goal after the Blues had failed to clear a corner. Without any interference in front of the big keeper it may have been a different story.

Unfortunately, that was the final action of the game that Kebano would see as he went down clutching his hamstring shortly after the opportunity. His injury saw the introduction of Aboubakar Kamara and moments later the end of the first half.

It was almost disaster for Fulham at the start of the second period. With Birmingham urged to press forward by the travelling fans an errand Kalas header back towards goal almost fell perfectly into the path of Jutkiewicz. However, Bettinelli reacted to the danger and punched clear just on the edge of his own box.

Another somewhat fortuitous chance fell to Fulham in the 57^th minute. A solid tackle in the heart of the Fulham midfield fell kindly for Cairney in the midfield. He picked out an unmarked Johansen who in turn slid a pass into the path of Kamara. With hesitation he fizzed a first-time effort across the face of goal.

Seconds later Kamara was causing trouble again. After latching on to a loose ball on the edge of the box he played in Johansen unmarked just inside the area. He lashed a shot on target that Stockdale was again positioned expertly to deal with and he parried it behind for a corner.

With Fulham beginning to enjoying the lions share of possession a crucial second goal almost materialised in the 70^th minute. Sessegnon was allowed time and space on the left wing to send a teasing ball across the six-yard box. Ojo met the ball first time with a left-footed strike but it sailed over.

The visitors somehow not back level against the run of play in the 75^th minute. After failing to clear a low cross McDonald was adjudged to have brought down Nsue in the area.

The visiting fans were in raptures as Jeremie Boga stepped up to take the penalty. After a two step run up he blasted his effort well over the bar to the delight of the Cottage faithful.

The game opened up as Birmingham began committing more and more men forward in search of a precious equaliser and with seven minutes to go tension began to mount. More and more balls were being pumped up to Sam Gallagher which Ream and Kalas had to cope with.

The Whites introduced Marcelo Djalo in the dying stages to add an extra body to cope with the bombardment and after five minutes of stoppage time the 3 points belonged to Fulham.

Next up for Fulham is a trip to Sunderland in a weeks time as we look to string a run of victories together once again.